The present invention relates to an apparatus for transferring between chambers of a coke oven charging gases which develop during the charging of the chambers while preventing the escape of the gases to the surrounding environment. The present invention also relates to a coke oven installation of the type including openings extending through an oven roof into respective oven chambers, including an apparatus for transferring between the chambers charging gases which develop during the charging of the chambers while preventing the escape of the gases to the surrounding environment.
West German DE-OS No. 29 20 406 discloses a transfer installation wherein a transfer pipe is mounted on a movable cart on the roof of the oven to be raised or lowered. The transfer pipe has downwardly extended ends which are equipped with ring-shaped strips which can be inserted into a water seal of a rising main pipe section after covers closing the chamber openings have been removed from such openings. During the time between the removal of the covers and the attachment of the transfer pipe, crude gases can escape to the surrounding atmosphere. Gases also will escape into the atmosphere following the removal of the transfer pipe and before the covers are placed back in the chamber openings. Such gas escape is undesirable for obvious reasons.
In addition to the above mentioned type of apparatus including a movable transfer installation, stationary transfer installations are known. In such known stationary transfer installations, two furnace chambers are connected by a stationary transfer pipe. Inside the transfer pipe a slide valve or flap is provided to separate the two furnace chambers after a filling operation. However, the slide valve or flap will not permanently guarantee a gas-tight separation of the two furnace chambers, because such slide valve or flap is exposed to crude gases during the entire coking operation. This causes condensation of tar vapors in the transfer pipe and on the slide valve or flap. This in turn causes a considerable build-up of deposits which precludes gas tightness and which requires a routine cleaning and removal operation.